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897bc9c When you have lived as long as I, you will see that every human being has his shell, and that you must take the shell into acount. By the shell I mean the whole envelope of circumstances. There is no such thing as an isolated man or woman; we are each of us made up of a cluster of apurtenances. What do you call one's self? Where does it begin? Where does it end? It overflows into everythng tht belongs to us - and then flows back again. (..... Henry James
4a3f558 She took refuge on the firm ground of fiction, through which indeed there curled the blue river of truth. fiction truth knowledge Henry James
ad98c5b A second chance--that's the delusion. There never was to be but one. We work in the dark--we do what we can--we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art. Henry James
1da3930 She envied Ralph his dying, for if one were thinking of rest that was the most perfect of all. To cease utterly, to give it all up and not know anything more - this idea was as sweet as a vision of a cool bath in a marble tank, in a darkened chamber, in a hot land. ... but Isabel recognized, as it passed before her eyes, the quick vague shadow of a long future. She should never escape; she should last to the end. Henry James
9dab152 Her memory's your love. You want no other. Henry James
6eba5b2 her smile, which was her pretty feature, was never so pretty as when her sprightly phrase had a scratch lurking in it. smile sarcasm Henry James
3f4db1c If you have work to do, don't wait to feel like it; set to work and you will feel like it. work Henry James
cf07136 He was there or was not there: not there if I didn't see him. Henry James
b0c3903 Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. life Henry James
068ba60 I would give all I possess to get out of myself; but somehow, at the end, I find myself so vastly more interesting than nine tenths of the people I meet. Henry James
e9cb8da She had always observed that she got on better with clever women than silly ones like herself; the silly ones could never understand her wisdom; whereas the clever ones - the really clever ones - always understood her silliness. understanding women wisdom silliness Henry James
7eccd45 Of course I was under the spell, and the wonderful part is that, even at the time, I perfectly knew I was. Henry James
2a300a3 his indescribable little air of knowing nothing in the world but love. Henry James
0d49a00 if you are going to be pushed you had better jump Henry James
5870c7c Cats and monkeys - monkeys and cats - all human life is there! human life monkeys Henry James
8fcf997 You are good for nothing unless you are clever. Henry James
58b7306 It's never permitted to be surprised at the aberrations of born fools. Henry James
1f69358 Everything had something behind it: life was like a long corridor with rows of closed doors. Henry James
68ee59e Isabel took a drive alone that afternoon; she wished to be far away, under the sky, where she could descend from her carriage and tread upon the daisies. She had long before this taken old Rome into her confidence, for in a world of ruins the ruin of her happiness seemed a less unnatural catastrophe. She rested her weariness upon things that had crumbled for centuries and yet still were upright; she dropped her secret sadness into the silen.. Henry James
3f983b2 Her chief dread in life, at this period of her development, was that she would appear narrow minded; what she feared next afterwards was that she should be so. Henry James
7e9f634 They are hopelessly vulgar. Whether or no being hopelessly vulgar is being 'bad' is a question for the metaphysicians. They are bad enough to dislike, at any rate; and for this short life that is quite enough. Henry James
c3264bf Living as he now lived was like reading a good book in a poor translation... Henry James
198800a It is no wonder he wins every game. He has never done a thing in his life exept play games Henry James
2ce1020 You seemed to me to be soaring far up in the blue - to be sailing in the bright light, over the heads of men. Suddenly some one tosses up a faded rosebud - a missile that should never have reached you - and down you drop to the ground. Henry James
8d10ad0 Make (the reader) think the evil, make him think it for himself, and you are released from weak specifications. My values are positively all blanks, save so far as an excited horror, a promoted pity, a created expertness... proceed to read into them more or less fantastic figures. story writing horror Henry James
0541855 I take up my own pen again - the pen of all my old unforgettable efforts and sacred struggles. To myself - today - I need say no more. Large and full and high the future still opens. It is now indeed that I may do the work of my life. And I will. work ghost horror Henry James
5f50a96 Under certain circumstances there are few hours more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. Henry James
05d47cd My father ain't in Europe; my father's in a better place than Europe." Winterbourne imagined for a moment that this was the manner in which the child had been taught to intimate that Mr. Miller had been removed to the sphere of celestial reward. But Randolph immediately added, "My father's in Schenectady." Henry James
29437c2 What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character? Henry James
f340a18 Take the word for it of a man who has made his way inch by inch, and does not believe that we'll wake up to find our work done because we've lain all night a-dreaming of it; anything worth doing is devilish hard to do! reality work-ethic Henry James
91085ce The Baroness found it amusing to go to tea; she dressed as if for dinner. The tea-table offered an anomalous and picturesque repast; and on leaving it they all sat and talked in the large piazza, or wandered about the garden in the starlight. tea Henry James
3532ac4 She couldn't have told you whether it was because she was afraid, or because such a voice in the darkness seemed of necessity a boon; but she listened to him as she had never listened before; his words dropped deep into her soul. spellbound listening Henry James
10428d0 The power to guess the unseen from the seen, to trace the implication of things, to judge the whole piece by the pattern, the condition of feeling life, in general, so completely that you are well on your way to knowing any particular corner of it-this cluster of gifts may almost be said to constitute experience, and they occur in country and in town, and in the most differing stages of education. Henry James
8ecf15a I ought to tell you I'm probably your cousin. Henry James
05ad6e3 She often wondered indeed if she ever had been, or ever could be, intimate with anyone. Henry James
b51b228 You young men have too many jokes. When there are no jokes you've nothing left. Henry James
7ca176c When it's for each other that people give things up they don't miss them Henry James
429204a London is on the whole the most possible form of life. life metropolis city-life london Henry James
e84a06f Ideas are, in truth, forces. Infinite, too, is the power of personality. A union of the two always makes history. Henry James
2127b47 Still, who could say what men ever were looking for? They looked for what they found; they knew what pleased them only when they saw it. men relationships types tastes Henry James
931868b It is difficult to speak adequately or justly of London. It is not a pleasant place; it is not agreeable, or cheerful, or easy, or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent. You can draw up a tremendous list of reasons why it should be insupportable. The fogs, the smoke, the dirt, the darkness, the wet, the distances, the ugliness, the brutal size of the place, the horrible numerosity of society, the manner in which this senseless bignes.. life metropolis city-life london Henry James
38628c0 It is enough to say that her perception of the endless interest of the place was such as might have been expected in a young woman of her intelligence and culture. She had always been fond of history, and here was history in the stones of the street and the atoms of the sunshine. She had an imagination that kindled at the mention of great deeds, and wherever she turned some great deed had been acted. These things excited her but they had be.. Henry James
8897bf4 Her face was not young, but it was simple; it was not fresh, but it was mild. She had large eyes which were not bright, and a great deal of hair which was not 'dressed,' and long fine hands which were--possibly--not clean. con-man-s-mark manipulation-of-perception victim Henry James
0f8125c She is like a revolving lighthouse; pitch darkness alternating with a dazzling brilliancy! Henry James
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